Semiconductor News 20251025

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1. Nexperia Issue Causes Severe Disruption in Automotive Industry The issue surrounding Nexperia (Ansei Semiconductor) has caused widespread ripples in the global automotive industry, and despite talks between the Dutch and Chinese governments, no solution has been found. Serious concerns about the procurement of in-vehicle semiconductors for mature nodes have surfaced, with Japanese automakers warning of the risk of supply disruptions and Volkswagen (VW) making plans to temporarily halt Golf production [17, 42 minutes ago (33)]. In addition, a report from Mentai Technology suggests that it faces uncertainty in acquiring a controlling interest in Ansei Semiconductor.
2. Intel’s Chip Supply on Verge of Exhaustion Due to Excess Demand by Q1 20 26 Intel CFO David Zinsner announced that Intel’s chip supply is expected to be “depleted” by Q1 2026 due to surging demand for PC and server CPUs, which has exceeded all expectations. Intel’s chip supply is expected to be “depleted” by Q1 2026 as demand for PC and server CPUs surges faster than all expectations. This, coupled with Intel’s seven-quarter turnaround from profitability due to cost cutting and strategic investments, indicates that the company’s 10/7nm node supply capacity is not keeping pace with demand. Meanwhile, Intel reassured us that there are no yield issues with 18A and continues to develop 14A.
3. Anthropic Increases Pressure on NVIDIA with Adoption of Google TPUs AI developer Anthropic is increasing pressure on NVIDIA with its latest Google TPU (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC) deal. This is a move by the AI giant to integrate the ASICs that NVIDIA’s CEO fears the most, and is a strategic move to challenge NVIDIA’s dominant position in the AI infrastructure market. Competition in the AI accelerator market is also intensifying, as NVIDIA’s competitor Axelera AI also announced its Europa AI chip.
4. TSMC to Manufacture 6nm at Second Kumamoto Plant, Move to Reduce Rare Earth Dependence TSMC plans to start up its second plant in Kumamoto, Japan, in December 2027 to manufacture semiconductors using the 6nm process. TSMC’s Hou also said that while he is confident that rare earth reserves are stable in the short term, TSMC is moving to reduce its dependence on China in the long term. This demonstrates TSMC’s strategy to strengthen its supply chain in light of geopolitical risks.
5. DRAM Prices Predicted to Rise Further After Spike, Bullish Trend in Memory Market DDR5 and DDR4 RAM modules are expected to rise further even after prices have already risen 30% to 50%, making now possibly the best time to buy. This price increase is attributed to strong demand from AI servers and HPC (High Performance Computing), indicating a strong bullish trend in the memory market.
6. Samsung’s 2nm Exynos 2600 Continues to Have Yield Problems Samsung’s Exynos 2600 chip (2nm process) continues to have yield problems and may cover only 30% of production for the upcoming flagship Galaxy S26, reports The report states that TSMC’s 2nm process may cover only 30% of the production of the next flagship model, the Galaxy S26. This supports the market’s view that customers are unlikely to switch their orders to Samsung Foundry even if TSMC raises the price of the 2nm process.
7. China Damages Machine in Reverse Engineering of ASML’s DUV Exposure System Chinese engineers reportedly damaged the machine in an attempt to reverse engineer ASML’s DUV (deep ultraviolet) exposure system, and ultimately requested help from ASML in the Netherlands. This situation highlights the technological barriers to how difficult it is for China to imitate and learn advanced technologies as it seeks to become self-sufficient in semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
8. Google’s “Willow” Quantum Processor Achieves 13,000x Speed Advantage Over Conventional Supercomputers Google’s “Willow” quantum processor has reportedly achieved a 13,000x speed advantage over conventional supercomputers. This is a major breakthrough in the field of quantum computing and shows the potential for next-generation computing power. IBM is also working on a collaboration to run quantum computing algorithms on AMD’s FPGA chips.
9. Micron Begins Shipping Industry’s Highest Capacity Low-Power DRAM Module for AI Servers Micron has begun shipping samples of its 192GB low-power DRAM module (LPDDR5X), the industry’s highest capacity for AI servers. This is a move aimed at achieving both the high capacity and energy efficiency demanded by AI data centers, and is accelerating competition in the high-performance memory market.
10. Intel Achieves First Turnaround in Seven Quarters , Signaling Financial Recovery Intel has achieved a return to profitability for the first time in seven quarters in its financial results for the third quarter of 2025. This is the result of cost reductions and strategic investments that CEO Pat Gelsinger has been pursuing, and represents a major financial milestone in the company’s quest for a major turnaround in the highly competitive semiconductor market.

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